Editor's note: This story was originally published by Suncoast Searchlight.
A proposal before the DeSoto County Commission to rezone hundreds of acres for a complex of data centers failed on Wednesday night, delivering the second major blow this week to developers who had sought to build more than 15 facilities in the rural county.
The night before, commissioners killed a similar rezoning request for the same project with a split vote. They voted along those same lines again on Wednesday, divided over the possible tax benefits and potential costs to the environment and community health the project could bring.
Both meetings stretched late into the night.
“We talk about the requirements – does it fit? Is it in the right area?” said Commissioner Jerod Gross, who said he does not oppose data centers in general. “For me, I don’t feel that it’s the right place and based on our staff report and the conditions that have been put in place, I can’t support that.”
Commissioner Judy Schaefer, who also voted against rezoning 238 acres of land for the project on Tuesday, said she would be open to future data center proposals but that she didn’t believe hyperscale data centers would fit with the county’s current growth plan so close to the town of Arcadia.
“We have a chance to do something here that could have a really big, lasting, positive impact on our community,” said Commissioner J.C. Deriso, who voted in favor of rezoning. “I think we have a lot of control over it to make it right.”
DeSoto county initially agreed in March to rezone 34 acres of land on the site of a decommissioned power plant for the project.
Facing backlash to the project and data centers in general, commissioners then voted in July to adopt a moratorium on new data center applications for the coming year and rejected a proposal Tuesday to rezone about 238 acres of land for DCIP Group’s project.
In October, the county Planning Commission recommended the county also decline to rezone the third, 554 acre property.
On that site alone, the developers planned to build nine data center facilities spanning 2.1 million square feet, according to a staff report.
DCIP Group has looked to develop in DeSoto County as the data center industry sprints to meet the energy demands of tech companies building powerful artificial intelligence models. The company has said it will not pull directly from the local energy grid, instead relying on natural gas to power its operations.
DCIP Group promises on its website to mitigate noise from the data center – another prominent community concern – and says it is “committed to preserving the quiet, rural character that defines DeSoto County and every community where we operate.”
But the lack of specifics on the proposed project, from its water use to the number of gas turbines required to power it, fueled skepticism in the county.
Staff, company disagree about DCIP project
During her report to the county commission, planning director Misty Servia said the lack of both regulations on the books for data centers and specific details surrounding aspects of the final project made the proposal difficult to evaluate.
“There were no operational details of the project provided to us,” Servia said, “so it made it a little bit challenging to understand the project at a deeper level and work to make sure that it was compliant with the future land use category.”
She said the project did not align with Arcadia’s urban expansion area philosophy and that it was unclear how the company would handle wastewater.
“We don’t know if diesel generators will be used,” Servia said, referring to the power generators that some large data centers rely on.
Jon Brown, the company’s CEO, disputed the idea that DCIP Group had not provided sufficient operational details for the county to make a decision.
“I know I will never get to the detail of what some people want, and I can’t do that in this forum,” said Brown, who promised the company would dispose of wastewater responsibly and said he was open to the county conditioning the project’s approval on enforceable noise limits.
He said the data center facilities would rely on power generated on the 34-acre site that the county already rezoned for the project.
‘Your constituents have spoken’
Some members of the public voiced support for the project, citing the influx of tax revenue they hoped would follow.
But most expressed frustration toward project and the two county commissioners who supported it.
“You seem to consider your constituents to be a little daft,” said Stacy Yoder, a DeSoto resident whose two young daughters stood by her side as she gave her testimony. “Your constituents have spoken. We don’t want the data center.”
Others said they worried about the environmental consequences of the project and cast it as a threat to the county’s rural character.
Tim Ritchie, a Charlotte County resident who has attended numerous meetings on the data center proposal, raised objections to the project over its possible impacts on the regional water supply.
He brought up broader concerns about the impacts of artificial intelligence on society, too.
“I like coming here and seeing all our commissioners – and staff,” Ritchie said. “I don’t want to see you all replaced by a robot.”
Alice Herman is a watchdog/investigative reporter for Suncoast Searchlight. Email her at alice@suncoastsearchlight.org.
